Two-Sauce Spaghetti| Basil-Pumpkin Seed Pesto Spaghetti With Tomato Sauce

We love ourselves a good bowl of pasta, every once in a while. It makes for a simple, easy-to-cook lunch or dinner, a lovely change from the usual roti–sabzi or rice. This two-sauce spaghetti is one such quick dinner I whipped up recently.

I used some of my home-made basil and pumpkin seed pesto to make this spaghetti. I served it with a bit of my home-made tomato pasta/pizza sauce. The two sauces made for a wonderful combination, enhancing each other’s flavours. We loved slurping up every last bit of this two-sauce spaghetti!

Ingredients (serves 2):

1. 125 grams spaghetti
2. Basil and pumpkin seed pesto, as needed (see notes)
3. Home-made tomato pasta/pizza sauce, as needed (see notes)
4. Sundried tomatoes preserved in olive oil, a few pieces
5. Pitted olives preserved in brine, a few pieces
6. Chilli flakes, as needed (optional)

Method:

1. Take about 3 cups water in a heavy-bottomed pan, place on high flame, and allow it to come to a boil. Then add in a teaspoon each of olive oil and salt, along with the spaghetti. Then, lower the flame to medium and cook the spaghetti for 5-6 minutes or till it is done, but not overly mushy. Switch off the gas.

2. Immediately transfer the cooked spaghetti to a colander and drain out all the water. Run cold water over the cooked spaghetti and let the colander rest, so that all the excess water drains out. You may reserve some of the spaghetti cooking water, to use in the sauce later.

3. When the spaghetti has completely drained, we will begin making the pasta sauce. Heat a pan and then reduce flame to medium. Add the basil and pumpkin seed pesto as needed in the pan, along with some of the water we reserved earlier. Mix well, to make a flowy sauce that isn’t too watery.

4. Now, add in the cooked and drained spaghetti, the chilli flakes (if using), chopped pitted olives and sun-dried tomatoes. Mix well. Switch off gas.

5. Transfer the spaghetti to serving plates. Serve immediately, with a dollop of home-made tomato pasta/pizza sauce on top.

Notes:

1. Here is how I make basil and pumpkin seed pesto at home.
2. I make home-made tomato pasta/pizza sauce in two different ways. You can use either this method or this one.
3. I have used store-bought green olives (pitted), here.
4. I bought sun-dried tomatoes from a store and then preserved them in olive oil. That is what I have used to make this spaghetti, here.
5. Since there is quite a bit of cheese in the basil and pumpkin seed pesto already, I haven’t used any grated cheese to garnish the spaghetti. You may do that, if you want to.
6. I have kept the spaghetti really simple, with just a few ingredients added in. You can add in any other ingredients that you want to.

You like? I hope you will try out this two-sauce spaghetti too, and that you will love it as much as we did!

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This recipe is for the Foodie Monday Blog Hop. The theme for this week is ‘Pasta Recipes’.

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